Thor 5 announced

[BGonaSTICK]

Telenor Satellite Broadcasting today announced that their THOR II-R satellite will be named THOR 5. The announcement was made at Satellite 2007 Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. THOR 5 is scheduled for launch from Baikonour, Kazakhstan, in October 2007 and is expected to be in full service by Q1 2008.

“The THOR name has a strong association with Telenor’s satellite fleet”, says Cato Halsaa, Managing Director of Telenor Satellite Broadcasting. The name is synonymous with the 1º West orbital position which has gained much credibility for the delivery of quality satellite broadcasting over the past 14 years.

The launch of THOR 5 strengthens Telenor’s TV broadcasting capacity on 1° West, an ideal position for satellite services in the Nordics, Europe and the Middle East. Telenor firmly believes that the growth of niche TV channels, the introduction of HDTV and the expansion opportunities within new emerging markets will continue to increase the demand for satellite capacity.

“THOR 5 is built on Orbital’s industry-leading STARTM satellite platform. We are very pleased to be providing this satellite to a dynamic and expanding market in Europe, says Dr. Ali Atia, head of Orbital's GEO communications satellite unit. “We are now at the final stage of assembly and testing. We at Orbital are confident that we will deliver THOR 5 on time “

To secure further growth, Telenor is in the process of acquiring a replacement for THOR III. Telenor has received several responses to the RFP which was issued in December 2006. A process of evaluation is now taking place and Telenor is set to make a final decision by the end of April 2007.

Telenor has a long history within satellite communication. In the early 70`s the company was a pioneer in the satellite industry providing satellite communication to the offshore oil installations in the Norwegian Sea and the Svalbard Islands. Telenor’s first satellite began its life as Marco Polo II and was launched using a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral on the 17th August 1990. It was constructed by British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB) but was purchased by Telenor in July 1992. Telenor renamed it THOR 1 and successfully moved it to its new in-orbit position at 1º West. For Telenor, a leading Norwegian Telecommunications company, the name “Thor” represents its cultural heritage associated with both Thor, the Norse god of Thunder, and Thor Heyerdal, the Norwegian explorer who sailed from South America to Polynesia in 1947 (the Kon-Tiki expedition).

Telenor has continuously expanded the 1˚ West position with THOR II, THOR III and ownership in Intelsat 10-02. THOR 5 and the replacement of THOR III represent Telenor’s commitment to invest in satellite communications and to develop a growth strategy for the 1º West platform beyond the Nordics.

[Analoguesat]

What happened to Thor 4 :?

[BGonaSTICK]

It's simply too difficult to pronounce.